hesmerelyaboi

Hey Shane, I enjoy the show a bunch and thanks for doing an AMA. One of my favorite things about VICE's stories is that they give you a real picture and idea of how things the mainstream media reports on actually play out. For instance, everyone hears about the corruption and fraud in Afghanistan, but to actually see a guy who had been sabotaging equipment so he could fill out new invoices was pretty eye-opening.

However, there are times, especially in the written pieces on the websites, that feels a bit, well, wrong. Many seem written by aspiring young writers and journalists attempting to touch on a larger theme. But they come off as aloof and patronizing towards their subjects, often sacrificing content to come across as "edgy." Again, big fan of most of the content, but I would really love to hear your response. I have a lot of optimism for VICE and similar organizations because I think you provide a service that most other media outlets don't, despite that shortcoming.

Thanks for the reply and that's one thing I really do like about VICE compared to other so-called "new media" outlets such as Buzzfeed (shudder). I like my cute animals separate from my hard-hitting, first person journalism. Except on Reddit I guess. And to be clear, I don't mean to imply that all the writing or all the pieces are like that. Anywhoo, thanks for an interesting series and keep up the good work.